Congress of the United States
Washington, DC 20515
December 5, 2017
The Honorable Mitch McConnell ‘The Honorable Paul Ryan
Majority Leader Speaker
US. Senate U.S. House of Representatives
8-230, The Capitol H-232, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515 ‘Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan,
We write again to emphasize our support for the prompt reauthorization of the Children’s Health
Insurance Program (CHIP). We ask that you include bipartisan legislation reauthorizing CHIP in
any upcoming funding legislation, Prompt reauthorization of this program is necessary to protect
the health of thousands of Virginia children and families.
CHIP has been essential to guaranteeing that the children in our state can access health
coverage. In FY 2017, Virginia received $285.9 million from CHIP. Between Virginia's separate
CHIP program, the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security, and CHIP-funded Medicaid,
our state provides coverage for nearly 128,000 children. This includes 66,000 children on CHIP
alone. This coverage includes doctor visits, hospital care, prescription medicines, eyeglasses,
immunizations, and regular check-ups for kids under 18 years old with minimal cost sharing and
without premiums. Since 2009, dental coverage has also been included in the program.
On September 18th, Senators Hatch and Wyden introduced the Keeping Kids Insurance
Dependable and Secure (KIDS) Act. This bill represents a bipartisan compromise that will
extend CHIP for five years. We wrote you on October 26, 2017, after you had failed to schedule
a vote for three weeks, requesting bipartisan legislation reauthorizing CHIP be brought to the
floor as soon as possible. It has been more than nine weeks since funding for this essential
program expired.
Itis imperative that Congress act quickly to end the uncertainty around health care
coverage for thousands of Virginia children, The Virginia Department of Medical Assistance
Services is preparing to notify families of the impending loss of coverage. As such, we request
that a full CHIP reauthorization be included the next available legislative vehicle, so we can
prevent letters from going out in Virginia that will unnecessarily frighten parents whose children
are in CHIP, On January 31, 2018, Virginia will have insufficient funds to continue the program,
and thousands of children in our state would be at risk of losing health care coverage. We can,
and must, put an end to this uncertainty.‘We remain committed to urging you to bring the KIDS Act to the floor quickly and
include offsets acceptable to both sides. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Mes, € Mn Fe
Mark R. Warner Tim Kaine